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A look at three paintings from the cusp of the 20th century that make a powerful argument for beauty.

When in 2014 the Getty Museum acquired Édouard Manet’s “Jeanne (Spring)”(1881), it commissioned a three-lecture series and invited the art historian Richard Brettell to be the first speaker. He, in turn, has now expanded his published version of those discussions to deal also with two other late 19th-century paintings in the Getty collection, Paul Gauguin’s still life “Arii matamoe (La fin royale)”(1892) and Paul Cézanne’s “Young Italian Woman at a Table” (1895-1900).

Margaret Atwood has an eerie prediction about the outcome of abortion restrictions, one that bears an uncanny resemblance to the dystopian future depicted in her hyper-relevant novel, The Handmaid’s Tale.

Speaking at New York City’s Book Con on Saturday, Atwood argued that when states obligate women into childbearing, they institute “a form of slavery,” Insider reported. State-mandated reproduction has two outcomes, she said: That women die, and that orphanages fill up.

June 25, 2019, Adrian, Michigan – The General Council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters issued the following statement concerning the treatment of immigrant children at the border between the United States and Mexico.

We denounce in the strongest possible terms the unconscionable mistreatment of children on the U.S.-Mexico border by the Trump Administration, and call on our elected leaders to take all measures necessary to provide them with adequate food, shelter, and healthcare – and, most importantly, to reunite them with their families.

Happy Father’s Day from The Representation Project! Fathers in the media are often portrayed in stereotypical and even insulting ways. Since the fathers that we see on screens send powerful messages about this important role, it’s helpful to reflect on how content producers choose to portray dads. Here are our picks for best and worst dad representations in entertainment media.

Welcome toThe Kicker from Carolina Public Press, a North Carolina news show bringing you conversations with journalists, sources and newsmakers from across the state.

In this episode, Kicker host Peter Kent talks with Hannah Randall and Amy Sims of Manna FoodBank, which serves a 16-county region of Western North Carolina, about issues of food insecurity the region they serve.

Last Friday President Donald Trump tweeted about celebrating LGBTQ Pride Month and added an LGBTQ-themed t-shirt to his online store. But he didn’t actually proclaim June as Pride Month. The White House confirmed that no official proclamation recognizing Pride Month had been issued. The tweet came a week after the administration confirmed it would be dismantlingsome of the last remaining federal protections for LGBTQ people, setting our community up for even more discrimination in health care and in homeless shelters. The administration also confirmed it was overturning a protection that prohibits adoption and foster-care agencies from receiving federal funding if they discriminate against same-sex couples. These are just two of over 110 attacks made on the LGBTQ population since Trump has taken office.

As the bus was taking our accompaniment delegation to Honduras to the airport for our return home, it stopped by the offices of Radio Progreso. Piling on to the bus came some twenty staff members of the station to bid us goodbye. Each of them greeted us with an embrace, a kiss, or a clasp of hands expressing heartfelt gratitude for our having come to be with them at this dangerous and chaotic time in their country. It was a striking gesture of affection that deeply touched us, the visiting delegates.

The City of Asheville is seeking public input on the potential future zoning of properties at/near Kmart (Patton Avenue), Innsbruck Mall (Tunnel Road), Steinmart (Merrimon Avenue) and Walmart (Bleachery Boulevard). The Urban Centers initiative will examine how the properties may be used in the future and what they could look like if redeveloped. The initiative will look at land use, mixed-use higher density residential, and features such as walkability, bikeability and open spaces.

When President Trump tweeted on Sunday that “‘Progressive’ Democratic Congresswomen” — an apparent reference to Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley, who are all women of color — should “go back” to their countries, the backlash was swift. It also sparked another conversation: What makes something racist?

Ibram Kendi, a professor and director of the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University, joined “CBS This Morning” to address that question from a historical perspective and discuss whether racist actions or words make someone a racist. Click to continue

This is what I’ve been looking for as I thought our NC Supreme Court could still challenge our gerrymandered state. They did it in Pennsylvania, so hopefully we can do it here. Read below….I’ve bolded and underlined the hope for NC.

By Joanne Hammond

In September 2016, a sign was unveiled just up the street from my home in Kamloops. It’s the kind of familiar sign that dots Canada’s highways, meant for motorists to pull over, learn a thing or two about local history, and move on with new appreciation for the landscape. The new sign kicked off a campaign by the BC Ministry of Transportation to expand the province’s stock of public history and to invite suggestions about the stories people would like to tell.

A century ago, historian Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. argued that history occurs in cycles. His son, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., furthered this theory in his own scholarship. As I reflect on Schlesinger’s work and the history of the United States, it seems clear to me that American history has three 74-year-long cycles. America has had four major crisis turning points, each 74 years apart, from the time of the Constitutional Convention of 1787 to today.

A scientist’s double negative

Precision demands that scientists present it as a double negative. Last July’s deadly heatwave in Japan could not have happened without human influence on the climate.

To venture a lay approximation, this study is saying decades of fossil fuel burning killed a thousand Japanese people. And this week more died as temperatures broke new records.

In the burgeoning field of event attribution, this is one of the clearest results yet. Japan has robust historic weather data, unlike most poorer countries vulnerable to weather disaster. The link between global warming and extreme heat is more direct than, for example, with tornado clusters hitting the US. Continue reading

Have we have become a fearful country “measured” by our relationship to weapons and guns? There is a connection between our reliance on wars abroad and guns at home. This is reflected in our active or passive support of the militarization of our youth and violence at home. The war mentality has not and will not secure our happiness. It blinds us to the common good of humanity. Is this our legacy for children?

Many Southern Congress Members Vote Yes to the Equality Act, Underlining Strong Support for LGBTQ Equality in the South

Today the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of the Equality Act, federal legislation that would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing, credit, education, public accommodations, federally funded programs, and jury service. It is the first time ever that the House of Representatives has passed a bill to extend nondiscrimination protections to LGBTQ people.